Piniella: Why fix it if it ain't broken?

Shortly after a fierce rainstorm turned Wrigley Field into a water park late Tuesday afternoon, the subject of what to do with Cubs leadoff man Alfonso Soriano came up once again.

“I don’t see any reason to move him anywhere else,” manager Lou Piniella said, dousing any thoughts about a switch in the batting order at this time. “I don’t see a reason for any change.”

Indeed, if the Little Blue Machine isn’t broke, then why fix it?

The North Siders didn’t need to tinker with much Tuesday night, when they dunked the Colorado Rockies 8-5, their fifth victory in a row.

Once again, Soriano played a lead role at the top of the order.

Soriano singled, stole a base and scored in the first inning and doubled and scored two innings later. He also threw out a runner for his 10th assist of the season.

“He has started to hit and he has started to run and he made a great throw to second base from the ivy,” Piniella said. “He has played real good baseball.”

If there’s anything that needs to be tweaked, it may be the rotation and the bullpen, as starter Ted Lilly continued his monthlong struggles and the relief corps put some excitement in the ninth inning for the second consecutive game.

Lilly received credit for his sixth victory in 10 decisions, but he allowed four runs on six hits and five walks in six innings. In his last seven starts, the left-hander has allowed 26 earned runs in 38 innings.

“His pitch count (114) concerned me more than anything,” Piniella said. “His curveball wasn’t as sharp as I’ve seen it on other days. But he battled, and when he had to make some pitches, he did.”

Reliever Will Ohman finally closed the deal, but not before the Rockies had the potential tying run at the plate.

“We’ll have to get a 12th (pitcher),” Piniella said. “How do we get to 12? I don’t know. We have functioned much better at 12 than we have at 11.”

The North Siders jumped on starter Rodrigo Lopez (4-1) for three runs in the first inning and never looked back.

After Aramis Ramirez delivered an RBI double with two outs, Cliff Floyd struck the big blow, a two-run home run into the right-field bleachers.

The Cubs broke the game open in the fifth inning, when they batted around and scored four times.

At that point, the only thing left for the crowd was to boo Rockies relief pitcher LaTroy Hawkins, the former Cubs scapegoat.

As for Soriano, Piniella believes there are only two spots that suit him in the order - first and fifth.

For the team to take full advantage of his longball ability, Soriano would have to move to the middle of the order at some point. He leads the club with 15 homers, but 14 are solo shots.

One option is to have center fielder Felix Pie and shortstop Mike Fontenot at the top of the order. Fontenot replaced Cesar Izturis and batted in the second position, while Pie was in the eighth spot.

Fontenot brought a .393 batting average and .418 on-base percentage into the game.

“If I want to get (Mark) DeRosa’s bat in the lineup and keep Fontenot's bat in the lineup, it's really the only choice I have,” Piniella said. “We’ll see if it works. It doesn’t mean we have to stay this way.”

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